same time we are. I shall speak with him alone later.'
Leontis wasn't the first person from Diran's past to turn up since Ghaji had begun traveling with the priest- there was Makala-but the fact that Diran said the two men had once been like brothers made Ghaji feel a twinge of jealousy. He knew it was ridiculous of him to feel like that, and more than a little embarrassing, but Diran was the only true friend the half-orc had ever had in his life. The priest was the closest thing Ghaji had to family, and childish though it might be, Ghaji didn't like the idea of sharing his friend with someone else. Plus, there was something about Leontis that bothered Ghaji on an instinctive level. Something that told the half-orc that the grim priest was more dangerous than he appeared.
Ghaji wanted to dismiss the idea, to put it down to another manifestation of the jealousy he felt, but he couldn't shake the sense that something was profoundly wrong with Leontis. And from the tone in Diran's voice and the concerned way he looked at Leontis, the priest sensed it too.
'Let's go talk to the others and see how they fared in their separate missions,' Diran said.
Ghaji nodded, gave Leontis a final glance, and then the two men walked over to where their companions stood talking. The others turned as Diran and Ghaji approached and made room for the two men to join them.
'So what news do you have for us?' Diran asked.
'Good, I hope,' Ghaji added. He smiled at Yvka, but though she returned his smile, there was something hesitant in her gaze, as if she were having a hard time meeting his eyes. She rubbed her left forearm as if she'd sustained an injury there, but when Ghaji raised a questioning eyebrow, she dropped her hand from her arm and looked away, as if he'd caught her doing something she'd preferred he hadn't seen… something almost shameful. Yvka's reaction bothered Ghaji, but now wasn't the time to make an issue of it.
Tresslar shrugged. 'I suppose it depends on what you mean by good. We've compared notes, and we've managed to learn a few things, though I'm not certain they'll ultimately be of much help to us. We've confirmed that Makala took the Zephyr, and that my dragonwand is aboard, along with the infernal barghest who stole it.'
'We also know that they sailed the Zephyr out of the Gulf,' Yvka said. 'But beyond that, we have no clue as to their destination-or even why they would want the Zephyr and Tresslar's wand in the first place.'
Hinto frowned. 'What I can't understand is why Makala would be working with the barghest. I mean, I know she's a vampire and all, but she's still Makala, isn't she? Why would she do these things?'
Diran let out a weary sigh. 'When Makala bit Aldarik Cathmore within Mount Luster, the dark spirit that shared his soul entered her, and she became its new host. The spirit tainted her even further, and I fear she had become a true creature of evil, with little or nothing of the Makala we know remaining.'
An uneasy silence fell over the companions after that. It was Asenka who finally broke the silence. 'This makes things simpler, doesn't it? The wand and the Zephyr are together: reclaim one, you reclaim the other.'
'Simpler, perhaps,' Diran allowed, 'but not easier. We don't know where the Zephyr is bound, and we have no way of tracking her across the Lhazaar. Unless Tresslar has managed to discover a way…'
The artificer reached around into his backpack and withdrew a small device that resembled a miniature sundial. 'I began work on this in Perhata, and I was able to find the parts I needed here in Kolbyr to finish it. It should allow me to detect the dragonwand's thaumaturgical energy signature-but only within a radius of a mile or so.'
'Which puts us right back where we started from,' Ghaji said. 'Without a way to locate the Zephyr.'
'I don't believe that's entirely accurate,' Solus said softly.
All eyes turned to focus on the psiforged.
'Tresslar has informed me that it isn't good manners to read the thoughts of my friends without their permission.'
Yvka's eyes widened for an instant as if she were startled, but her expression quickly returned to one of calm neutrality. The elf-woman's reaction had occurred and passed so swiftly that Ghaji doubted anyone else had noticed it. But then, no one in their group knew Yvka the way he did. What is she worried about? he wondered. Did she fear Solus might ferret out all the Shadow Network secrets she kept locked up in her head? That would make sense, but Ghaji couldn't help thinking that it was something more than that.
'I have taken my new friend's advice,' Solus said, 'so I do not know for certain, Diran, but I believe the answer to where the Zephyr is headed lies within your mind.'
Now it was Diran's turn to look startled. 'What makes you think this?'
'The palace was the center of the Fury, and extremely strong psychic turbulence occurred here. Traces of this turbulence yet remain, and I have examined them, primarily out of curiosity.'
Ghaji wanted to ask examined how? He hadn't seen the psiforged actually do anything. But then he realized Solus didn't have to take physical action to use his psionic powers. The construct had probably examined the traces-whatever they were-while the others had been talking.
Solus continued. 'The strongest psychic residue was left behind by your struggle with the demon, allowing me to piece together what I believe is a fair representation of what occurred during the exorcism. The demon attempted to take possession of your corporeal form, did it not?'
'Yes, but the demon failed,' Diran answered.
'No matter. For during the few moments you were joined, the demon tried to coerce you into letting it inhabit your body by showing you visions of past and future events-including the location of the Zephyr.'
This revelation was news to Ghaji, but then he and Diran hadn't had much time to discuss how the exorcism went-and the Fury-possessed half-orc had been too busy trying to kill his friend at the time to pay much attention to the actual rite itself.
'It's true,' Diran said, 'but though I tried to get a sense of what direction the Zephyr was traveling, I failed.'
'It doesn't matter, Diran,' Tresslar said. 'The demon was probably just trying to trick you.'
'No,' Solus said. 'The demon told the truth-at least, it believed it told the truth. If you will grant me permission, Diran, I can attempt to read your mind and see if the answer we seek is buried within.'
'I don't know about this,' Ghaji said. 'Nothing personal, Solus, but you're still learning to use your abilities. If you make a mistake while attempting to read Diran's mind…'
'He won't!' Hinto said. The halfling smiled up at his psiforged friend and patted the construct's stone hand. 'Will you?'
'I shall do my very best to ensure your safety, Diran,' Solus said.
'It's the very best part that worries me,' Ghaji muttered.
Diran considered for a moment. 'Even if there is a risk, I believe it is one worth taking. The demon showed me images other than the Zephyr. They made no sense in and of themselves, but I fear they might portend ill for the future. Any information we can learn about the demon's visions might help us prevent them from coming to pass. Go ahead, Solus.'
The psiforged nodded once, then lowered his hood and stepped toward Diran. He reached up and gently touched his blunt stone fingers to Diran's temples, and his eyes glowed a brighter green. Diran gritted his teeth and winced a couple times, but otherwise he appeared to be in no discomfort. Within a few moments, it was done, and Solus lowered his hands.
The psiforged then spoke two words. 'Trebaz Sinara.'
Haaken Sprull drifted in feverish delirium, his dreams filled with sharp teeth and the stink of fetid breath seasoned with rotted flesh. Over and over in his mind he saw cold-black shark eyes roll white, saw a tooth-filled maw clamp down on his legs, felt white-hot pain burn through his nerves as those teeth shredded meat, snapped bone, and spilled his life's blood into the freezing surf…
He screamed and his eyes snapped open.
The Coldheart commander lay on a pallet in a darkened cabin, the sheet beneath him soaked with sour sweat. Haaken sensed motion and thought he might be at sea, but if so, the water must have been especially calm today, because the ship's passage was smoother than any he'd ever experienced before. At first he thought he was aboard the Maelstom, the Coldhearts' vessel, but this cabin was more cramped than his: the walls closer together, the ceiling lower, and the pallet softer than he preferred. Then he remembered-the Maelstrom had run aground on Demothi Island when he'd attempted to strand the priest and his half-orc friend there. Not one of his more brilliant schemes, he had to admit, considering how it had turned out. His crew dead, his ship destroyed, his legs…
He sat up in sudden panic. He remembered everything: hiding out on the island when the undead rose from
